WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Activists say the U.S. is handing the enemy a victory the longer it allows the detention of enemy combatants at the U.S Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba .

`` When we leave them at Guantanamo , in a military prison , we give them a status they do n't deserve , '' said John Hutson , a former U.S. Navy judge advocate general . `` We make them heroes and martyrs to their friends and colleagues back in terrorist camps , '' he said .

Ten years after the first detainees were brought to Guantanamo from what was considered the battlefield in Afghanistan after 9/11 , constitutional and judicial experts held a news conference Wednesday to say the Obama administration needs to restore American values of human rights and the rule of law .

Hundreds of protesters rallied later outside the White House as part of the event , with organizers saying the rally was to `` call on President Obama to keep his promise and shutter Guantanamo Bay now . ''

Under the Bush administration , the United States claimed that Guantanamo Bay detainees are not on U.S. soil and therefore not covered by the U.S. Constitution , and that `` enemy combatant '' status means they can be denied some legal protections .

President Barack Obama in January 2009 ordered the camp to be closed within a year , citing security concerns . But as of July of last year , 171 detainees remained at Guantanamo .

Their prolonged and murky circumstances were the focus of the Wednesday event .

`` There is no case that is so important that we should sacrifice our dedication to human rights and rule of law , '' Hutson said . `` It 's not a rule of law unless it applies all the time , and it 's not a human right unless it applies to all people . ''

Morris Davis , a former chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantanamo , said political interference from back home during the Bush administration blocked any basis for a fair trial .

`` Initially I was probably the leading proponent for Guantanamo , and for military commissions , '' Davis , a retired Air Force colonel , said Wednesday . But he eventually resigned after he said the Bush administration pressured him to use evidence he felt was obtained through torture .

`` I believed at the time that we were committed to having full , fair and open trials , '' Davis said . `` I resigned when I lost confidence that that was our commitment . ''

Obama , in a 2009 speech delivered in Cairo , Egypt , acknowledged that the U.S. had acted `` contrary to our ideals '' in the time that followed the 9/11 attacks . After telling his Middle East audience he had `` unequivocally prohibited the use of torture , '' Obama then said he had `` ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed , '' on a timetable that would have ended about a year ago .

`` If we roll up the Constitution every time that there 's a difficult factual situation , we might as well roll up the entire democracy , '' said Vincent Warren , executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights .

Talat Hamdani , a Muslim American whose son died in the attacks on World Trade Center on September 11 , 2001 , spoke at the rally in front of the White House .

`` We say we are not at war with Islam , yet actions do speak louder than words , '' Hamdani said . `` Guantanamo is a shame -- a disgrace for our nation and we need to set the record straight by leading by example . ''

Despite a steady downpour of rain , the large group of protesters -- including some in orange jumpsuits symbolizing the Guantanamo Bay detainee uniforms , marched past the White House and on to the Supreme Court following the rally .

CNN 's Lindy Royce-Bartlett contributed to this report .

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Legal activists question a decade of detentions at Guantanamo

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Former military JAG says detainees become `` heroes and martyrs '' in terrorist camps

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Demonstration outside White House urges Obama to make good on shutdown promise